Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020
Latest action · Mar 18, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 18, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020
This bill revises and establishes voting procedures for federal elections.
Specifically, the bill requires each state and jurisdiction to, within 30 days, establish and publish a contingency plan to enable voters to vote in federal elections during an emergency. Such plan must (1) include initiatives related to the safety and recruitment of poll workers, and (2) permit registered voters to submit online requests for absentee ballots and vote by mail or by drop-off location.
Additionally, for all federal elections, a state must
- ensure that voters have 20 days to vote through early in-person voting or by mail;
- begin processing ballots cast during early voting or by mail at least 14 days before the date of the election;
- provide self-sealing return envelopes with prepaid postage for voter registration applications, absentee-ballot applications, and blank absentee ballots;
- allow voters to cure certain signature discrepancies;
- accept voter registration applications at least 21 days before the date of the election; and
- provide certain accommodations to voters residing on Indian lands.
The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must create a uniform domestic downloadable and printable absentee ballot for use in federal elections. Until the EAC creates such a ballot, states must permit certain voters to use those ballots provided to overseas and military voters.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency must create an update service to inform voters of their voter registration applications, absentee-ballot applications, and absentee ballots.
States must be reimbursed for implementing the provisions of the bill.
Cosponsors 36
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 18, 2020 to May 13, 2020, with 25 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CT | Christopher Murphy | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-AL | Doug Jones | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CA | Kamala D. Harris | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 18, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Mar 18, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1397 | A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for a national Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use. | Related bill | May 9, 2019 |
| S 4033 | Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 | Related bill | Jun 22, 2020 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Election Assistance Commission
- Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Foreign language and bilingual programs
- Government information and archives
- Government Operations and Politics
- Indian lands and resources rights
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Intergovernmental relations
- Military personnel and dependents
- Natural disasters
- Postal service
- State and local finance
- State and local government operations
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 18, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.